In the aftermath of Wednesday’s bloodbath in Chatham, where a family of four was murdered, police spent yesterday trying to restore calm to the community through counselling and increased patrols.
A senior officer of the South Western Division told the Guardian that officers from the Victim and Witness Support Unit were sent to the usually quiet village at Chatham South Trace to meet with the family and neighbours of Grace Toussaint, 55; her husband Peter Baptiste, 59; son Jeremy Toussaint, 24; and mother Leena Peters, 57, who were all shot dead at their home.
“We have heightened our presence and we have also engaged the community through dialogue. We also have the help of the Victim and Witness Support Unit to counsel neighbours and existing family because remember it is a whole community that was affected.”
On Thursday morning, horror gripped the community when Grace’s father Patrick Jouba found their bodies. Jeremy was found dead in the living-room, while the others were found dead in a bedroom.
Jouba said the family had been expected to attend a prayer service on Wednesday for their neighbour Stephon Sinnette who was murdered on July 6, but they did not attend.
On Thursday morning, Grace’s daughter Jamie, who lives in Point Fortin, told Jouba that she tried to contact the family by telephone, but no one answered. It was then he decided to check on them and found their dead bodies.
No one has been arrested for the crime. KF
Williams: Motive not certain
Reports stated that on Tuesday, Jeremy gave police information relating to Sinnette’s murder. Police believe this is why the family was killed. However, acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams said he did not know if the motive given for the killings was correct.
Just last Monday, at a town meeting at the Penal Secondary School, Williams urged citizens to provide police with information to solve crimes as it was important to increase their detection rate.
But when asked if he thought the Chatham murders would now leave witnesses fearful to help the police, he said he could not speak on that matter.
“I can’t speak to that matter because I don’t know that as a fact, that the person (Jeremy) was killed because he assisted police in any investigation. I am not conducting the investigation. I don’t have the information as to what is the reason for the murders and I don’t even know if the investigators have so determined at this point in time so I can’t speak to the reason behind the killings,” Williams said.
On Thursday, neighbours and relatives were afraid to speak to the media or the police, saying that they feared they too might be targeted.